I’m all over the place today.  There is no theme today, only utterly haphazard slapdashery.

I’ve noticed another side effect of maturing (some call it aging).  In addition to preferring to drink less beer but better quality, there’s another overriding factor in limiting my drink intake.  Obviously the threat of a hangover is a great deterrent but an even larger factor now is watching my calorie count.  How flippin’ lame is that?  While I refuse to cut beer out of my life yet don’t want to get the dreaded beer gut, compromises must be made.  If I want a beer, then I have no dessert.  It might not be sane rationalization but it works for me.  Since my weight and waist size are the same as they were a decade ago, I think I've found the right formula.

Just when I write an article about electronics getting smaller by the day, I fail to mention how phones are now reversing the trend.  Just when we get to thumb-sized flip phones, the need for people’s phones to also be mini-computers/planners/cameras/videos/music players has forced the size of advanced phones to be large again.  One factor is the human hand can only type on a certain sized instrument before it becomes impossibly small to be functional.  With that limitation, we’re stuck with larger phones again.  Thankfully the phones are relatively thin but it still looks unnatural to hold up a mini-screen to your ear.

If you get a chance, watch the rerun of Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations show on the Travel Channel.  He goes to different countries and tries their cuisine and soaks in the local non-touristy culture.  Last month, he and his crew were in Beirut when the bombing started.  Watching him and his crew’s raw emotions while they wait 9 days for the U.S. to evacuate them and other American citizens. It was truly a fascinating hour of TV.  Watch it if you can.  Being stranded at a hotel on a hill while you see a city being bombed out is understandably unnerving.